Gautam Gambhir's swashbuckling century helps Delhi make it to the semis
Delhi and Mumbai cruised to easy wins in the quarter-finals of the ongoing 2018 Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bengaluru.
Mumbai taking on the debutants in the Indian domestic circuit was always going to be a cakewalk for the domestic giants and they exactly showed how much of a mismatch it was as they crushed Bihar by nine wickets at the Just Academy Cricket Ground in Bengaluru. After choosing to bowl first, pacer Tushar Deshpande led the Mumbai bowling attack in bundling out Bihar for just 69 in 28.2 overs.
MD Rahmatullah top-scored for Bihar with 18 while Babul Kumar managed to score 16. Apart from these two, none of the Bihar batsmen reached the double figures. Tushar ended up with figures of 5/23 while Shams Mulani backed him well by taking three wickets. In reply, Mumbai, with Indian ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma in their ranks, chased down the total in just 12.3 overs with the three-time ODI double centurion remaining unbeaten on 33.
In the other match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Delhi breezed past Haryana in a one-sided contest. After choosing to bat first, Haryana managed to score just 229 in spite of a 140-run stand for the fourth wicket between CK Bishnoi and Pramod Chandila, who scored 85 and 59 respectively.
But, Kulwant Khejroliya ensured that Haryana didn't run away with a huge total on the board as his 6/31 in ten overs helped his team restrict Haryana to a partly total. Chasing 230 to win, Delhi were off to a flying start, thanks to the birthday boy Gautam Gambhir.
The 37-year-old batsman took on the Haryana bowlers right from the word go and registered a quick-fire century off just 69 balls before eventually falling for 104 off 72 runs with the help of 16 fours. His 118-run stand for the second wicket with Dhruv Shorey was ended when he was stumped off the bowling of Rahul Tewatia after making a fine century.
Tewatia gave Delhi a scare as he dismissed Shorey and Himmat Singh off quick succession. But, Nitish Rana and Manan Sharma ensured that they took their team home safely with five wickets in hand and 64 balls to spare.
Delhi will take on Mumbai in the first semi-finals of the tournament at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on October 17.
Brief scores:
Mumbai 70/1 in 12.3 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 24, Rohit Sharma 33*) beat Bihar 69 in 28.2 overs (MD Rahmatullah 18; Tushar Deshpande 5/23, Shams Mulani 3/18) by nine wickets.
Delhi 230/5 in 39.2 overs (Gautam Gambhir 104, Dhruv Shorey 50, Rahul Tewatia 3/32) beat Haryana 229 in 49.1 overs (CK Bishnoi 85, Pramod Chandila 59, Kulwant Khejroliya 6/31, Navdeep Saini 3/39) by six wickets.